What are the Consequences of Plagiarism
Everyone knows that plagiarism is bad and should be avoided, but the intricacies and realities of this issue escape most people, especially students, who lack vital experience and hope their cunning will help them avoid the negative attention of professors. In most cases, it doesn’t happen, and those who commit academic dishonesty end up facing harsh punishment. It differs for students as well as academics, but the results are equally unpleasant. Mainly, the consequences of plagiarism young people studying in college or university face include the following:
- Receiving a failing grade for a specific assignment with no opportunity to change it.
- Getting an automatic fail for the whole term.
- Being called for a disciplinary hearing.
- Being assigned several complex tasks required to evaluate whether you’ve learned your lesson.
- Being expelled.
Basic Information About Plagiarism
The primary question that bothers many individuals is, is plagiarism illegal? Not when it concerns students. Well, if they stole their entire dissertation from someone else or presented funded research for publication that possesses borrowed and uncited ideas of others, they might face legal penalties, but in the majority of instances, this principle doesn’t apply. It doesn’t matter that you could remain unpunished, though. So, what is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is intentional or unintentional borrowing of ideas from other authors without giving them credit and presenting their information or findings as something you came up with yourself. You might be completely unaware of the fact that you’ve plagiarized something, which is going to hurt more since you’ll be taken aback when all hell breaks loose. There are different types of plagiarism, with some of them severe and others not so. But one thing is undeniable: if you engage in it and it’s revealed, you will be wishing it had never happened because the hassle is just not worth it.
Students Who Plagiarize: What Each Punishment Entails
Let’s determine, what are the consequences of plagiarism for students? We’ve already listed five major ones above. Now it is time to regard them in more depth.
- Getting an F for assignment where plag was discovered. All professors have an absolute ‘no plag’ policy, but the approaches they use toward this issue differ based on their views along with college regulations. The most frequent penalty entails being failed on a task where some plagiarism was present. While in other instances, you could submit it anew, because of plag, you will not be given such an option. Even the smallest cases, such as incremental or self-plag, are punished strictly. If you wonder, “Can you plagiarize yourself?”, then yes, it’s possible. It means that if you take parts from your own old essay and put them into a newly written one, you’ll still fail unless you pointed the references out honestly.
- Term fail. This is one of the worst plagiarism consequences. You might have worked very hard during lengthy months, but one serious case of plagiarism, and your success could be disregarded. You won’t be allowed to take the exams, having to restart your studies for this year. Only some unis have this practice but it is still extremely unpleasant.
- The hearing. Imagine standing before the committee and explaining why you engaged in plag, how you did it, and whether you understand you were wrong. No one wants to experience something like this, but many students are forced to withstand this stressful and humiliating procedure if they want to keep studying in their college. You’ll also be receiving a record of a dishonest student, so better check your papers carefully before submitting them since otherwise, the repercussions are going to follow you for ages.
- Additional tasks. A committee might give you tasks you must complete proving that you’ve realized your error and are ready to make amends. On the one hand, obtaining a chance for clearing your name is great. On the other, it could take you hours and days of work in addition to other assignments you’ll be working on. As an example of such task, you could be asked to write a 5000-words essay about the consequences of plagiarism in college. Each claim must be supported and a variety of valid sources has to be used. Considering this, it’d be much easier to avoid plagiarism altogether from the start.
- Getting expelled. This penalty is most terrible as it leaves you with no opportunity to restore the uni’s trust in you. You’ve spent money, time, and effort on your studies, and you risk losing it and having to start anew simply because of one or two misguided decisions.
Read also: Example of plagiarism every student should avoid.
Plagiarism Consequences That Academics Face
When it comes to plagiarism, students have it bad, but academics have it worse. These are the people who hold important and respected positions and who must represent honesty together with integrity. If they fail, they’ll be unable to escape repercussions even if they leave for another state. First, journals are likely to refuse to ever publish their articles again, no matter how original they are. Investors would start ignoring their proposals, having no interest in supporting someone who has already been caught in an academic lie. For academics, losing the possibility to get funding for their research is the end of their career. That’s why they never miss a chance to check work for plagiarism before submitting it to publishers.
With ruined reputation, they won’t be receiving promotions or bonuses — in fact, they could lose their employment and few other places would decide on hiring them. Their name is going to be tainted in all professional circles, with other academics not taking them seriously or openly demonstrating their contempt, spreading the rumors. Lots of people caught in plagiarizing had to resign and/or forget about their careers in the field of academics. Many are forced to start a new life, being unable to do what they love again.
Lear more: Plagiarism statistics among students.
Legal Consequences of Plagiarism
Most legal repercussions stem from copyright infringement. If you stole someone’s text or pretended their ideas are yours, this person will not be happy about it. They could sue you for quite a lot of money, depending on the purpose of both written works and the severity of plag. You could be fired or expelled, with legal trials following, especially if you refuse to accept this decision and try to argue against it. More than that, even without lengthy court hearings, you might have to pay serious fines that could be as high as $50,000. In several states, plagiarism is viewed as a crime punishable by jail. The term isn’t long, it doesn’t exceed one year, but few people are enthusiastic about losing so much of their life for a lapse of judgment.
Knowing all these repercussions, you should think carefully before knowingly taking the ideas that aren’t yours and not citing them. If you’re worried about making a mistake by accident, you should learn how to avoid plagiarism. Be sure to cite each source you use correctly, accordingly with your academic format. When using direct quotes, put quotation marks around them and point out who they belong to. And of course, use plagiarism checker.
Get Rid of Plagiarism in Your Essays in Several Minutes
Now that you know what happens if you plagiarize in college, you’re unlikely to do that intentionally. Temporary gratification is not worth all the work and troubles you will be forced to endure if caught. To eliminate all traces of plag from your papers, use free plagiarism checker. It could show you which areas are murky, offer a percentage of text uniqueness, and offer suggestions, such as synonyms or services for hire that could remove everything problematic from an essay. Stay attentive, check yourself, and avoid plagiarism!
